Formula 1's Driver Power Rankings After 2015 Chinese Grand Prix
Though Formula One's 2015 Chinese Grand Prix failed to match the drama and excitement of the previous round in Malaysia, fans were at least treated to a handful of top-class drives.
Lewis Hamilton's near-perfect weekend saw him move 13 points clear of Sebastian Vettel at the head of the drivers' standings. The reigning champion was quickest in every practice session, qualified on pole and set the fastest lap on his way to an impressive 35th career victory.
Felipe Massa also impressed as he made highly rated Valtteri Bottas look decidedly average, and in the spectacular stakes there can be only one winner—Max Verstappen, who showed incredible car control under braking as he fought his way through the midfield.
The drivers are already heading to the Middle East for the Bahrain Grand Prix, part two of the first back-to-back race pairing of the year.
As they board flights, touch down and check into their hotels, here's how they rank after the third grand prix of the year.
Note on Power Rankings
These rankings should not be confused with the actual championship table.
Rather than looking solely at how many points each driver has, they take into account race results, qualifying, the overall performance of each driver and how they stack up against their team-mates. The relative pace of each driver's car is factored in, as is the identity of his team-mate.
For each race, every driver who took part is awarded a score out of 10. The sum of these scores across the previous six races—or fewer, at this stage in the season—is given on each driver's slide and determines the driver's ranking. Early in the year, a couple of points can make a big difference, so expect fluidity in the standings.
All position changes are relative to where the driver was in the previous set of rankings, published after the Malaysian Grand Prix and available here.
Honourable Mentions
1 of 11
Fernando Alonso deserves a nod for a decent race, including a long and (for a McLaren) quick stint on the soft tyres at the end of the race. He currently loses out largely because he didn't drive in Australia, and only has two scores counting toward his total.
Will Stevens also put in a good performance on what was his first start of the year. He out-qualified team-mate Roberto Merhi by eight-tenths of a second and comfortably held off the Spaniard in the race.
Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg are the two drivers closest to breaking into the Top 10.
10. Jenson Button
2 of 11
Down Three
Jenson Button ruined an otherwise strong drive with an uncharacteristic error close to the end.
He maintained his 100 percent record of out-qualifying Fernando Alonso, but won't have been proud of his grid slot—17th, giving him a spot on the second-to-last row.
Button lost a place to Alonso at the start and the order remained the same after both had made their first stops. McLaren asked the Spaniard, on the slower tyre, to let his team-mate through and Button had a similar pace to the midfield cars ahead.
Later in the race, Pastor Maldonado's difficulties placed him on the same part of the track as Button, with a soft-tyred Alonso rapidly catching both. The battle between the pair was great to watch and very clean for a few laps, but it wasn't to last.
Maldonado got through at the hairpin, and Button misjudged his entry to Turn 1 while attempting to re-pass the Venezuelan. He ran into the back of the Lotus, costing both time, and received two super licence penalty points after accepting the blame.
Overall a good display, tarnished a little by that one silly mistake.
Rating: 6
Cumulative: 21
9. Nico Rosberg
3 of 11
No Change
Nico Rosberg didn't drive badly in China, but seemed a little too willing to settle for second.
He qualified second on the grid, losing out to Lewis Hamilton by just 0.046 seconds.
Races can be won and lost by the tiniest of margins and as Hamilton slotted into the lead at the start, Rosberg had to settle for second. He followed his team-mate closely in the first stint, but his pace dropped off as the pit stops approached.
Though he comfortably emerged ahead of Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari, Hamilton retained the lead.
Rosberg's driving in the second stint was, to some, unusual. He steadfastly remained two seconds adrift of Hamilton, complaining on the team radio that the Brit was driving too slowly. Rather than attack and risk increased tyre wear, Rosberg was content to sit back.
Would a couple of aggressive, faster laps to put pressure on Hamilton have made a lot of difference? We'll never know.
The German later said on Twitter that he'd aimed to attack in the final stint, but ended up too far back and never challenged. He crossed the line in second.
There's no shame in losing to Hamilton, but unless Rosberg can push his team-mate harder he's in danger of sleepwalking into a No. 2 role.
Rating: 7
Cumulative: 21
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8. Carlos Sainz Jr.
4 of 11
Down Three
Carlos Sainz Jr. was put out of contention entirely by a gearbox issue, but an early error had already left him playing catch-up.
He qualified 14th on the grid, a tenth and a half shy of Max Verstappen in the other Toro Rosso.
The Spaniard got an average start and maintained his position around the opening lap, but things started to go wrong soon after. Jostling for position with Sergio Perez into Turn 1 on the second lap, Sainz got his line wrong, ran wide and spun off the track.
The time loss was small, and though the rookie fell to last place he probably had enough pace to recover and challenge for points.
Unfortunately, a gearbox problem on Lap 22 cost him 45 seconds. Sainz was unable to make up the time, and finished 14th—last of all bar the Manors.
It's normal for rookies to make the odd error, but with Verstappen impressing, he can't afford to make another any time soon.
Rating: 6
Cumulative: 21
7. Romain Grosjean
5 of 11
Up Three
Romain Grosjean's fine drive ended a run of pointless races stretching back to May 2014.
He maintained his 100 percent record of getting through to Q3, qualifying eighth on the grid with a lap of one minute, 39.905 seconds. Team-mate Pastor Maldonado was 11th.
Grosjean moved up to seventh at the start thanks to Daniel Ricciardo's poor getaway, but lost out at the first round of stops when Lotus stopped Maldonado before him and the Frenchman slipped to eighth.
Fortunately for him, Maldonado's pit entry error gave Grosjean a clean run back to seventh. He remained there to the chequered flag.
It was a quiet race for Grosjean, but after the misfortune in the first two rounds that's exactly what he needed.
Rating: 8
Cumulative: 22
6. Felipe Nasr
6 of 11
No Change
Felipe Nasr bounced back from a poor showing in Malaysia to chalk up the second points-paying finish of his short F1 career.
The Sauber man qualified well and started ninth on the grid, just ahead of team-mate Marcus Ericsson.
He made a decent start and rose a place on the opening lap, but lost it soon after when Pastor Maldonado overtook on Lap 7. Nasr lost a further place after his first stop to the charging Max Verstappen.
Nasr hung on in ninth, staying ahead of Ericsson despite the latter using a theoretically quicker soft-soft-medium tyre strategy, compared to Nasr's soft-medium-medium. Tyre wear was a problem for the Brazilian in Malaysia, so perhaps he took this approach to err on the side of caution.
He regained eighth late in the race when Verstappen retired, and stayed there until the chequered flag.
A good, calm and mature drive from Nasr, who looks entirely at ease in F1.
Rating: 8
Cumulative: 23
5. Felipe Massa
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Up Three
Felipe Massa recovered brilliantly after missing a lot of Friday running to put on a great display in China.
He qualified fourth, less than a second off the pace of pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton and two-tenths ahead of Valtteri Bottas.
The Brazilian lost out to Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen at the start, but regained the place from his team-mate with a better exit out of Turn 6 on the opening lap to run in fifth.
From this point on he had a quiet race, unable to challenge the cars ahead—Massa was over a minute behind the race leader when the safety car emerged toward the end. But his drive stood out for how ordinary he made the highly-rated Bottas look.
Massa is now fourth in the drivers' standings with 30 points—it took him eight races to score that many in 2014.
Rating: 9
Cumulative: 24
4. Kimi Raikkonen
8 of 11
Down One
Kimi Raikkonen made the most of a good opening lap, but ruined his chances on Saturday.
The Finn started sixth after a fairly horrible lap. It's difficult to say whether the fault lay with Raikkonen or his car, but the SF15-T never looked hooked up. His time of 1:37.232 was slower than his best lap from Q2 and over half a second down on team-mate Sebastian Vettel.
He was still sixth in the middle of Turn 1, but drove an excellent string of corners, passing Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas to run fourth on the road.
As for many drivers, his race from this point on was a rather quiet affair. Raikkonen had similar pace to Vettel, and chose to run longer in his second stint so he could attack late on with fresher rubber.
He was closing up as the race neared its conclusion, but the safety car ended his slim hopes of making a move and he had to settle for fourth.
A strong race, but Raikkonen needs to improve his qualifying.
Rating: 7
Cumulative: 24
3. Max Verstappen
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Up One
Max Verstappen could well prove to be a rare example of a driver whose performances match his hype.
Neither Toro Rosso did well in qualifying, but Verstappen outpaced Carlos Sainz Jr. to line up in 13th despite an error on his quickest lap.
He made a good start and was somewhat fortunate to survive a hefty wheel-bang with Daniil Kvyat to end the opening lap in 11th. After a few laps holding his position, Verstappen started to do a bit of overtaking.
Marcus Ericsson was his first victim, the Dutchman producing a brilliant late-braking lunge at the penultimate corner on Lap 9. Felipe Nasr was next, falling to a near-identical move.
His third and final piece of overtaking brilliance came on Lap 39 when he passed Sergio Perez at Turn 6. The youngster appears to have a genuine gift for feeling the car, and is able to pull out very late from behind a rival, braking and turning at the same time without locking up.
Verstappen looked set to crown a great drive by finishing eighth, but his car failed a few laps from the end.
No points for the 17-year-old, but another stellar display. The only worry is, what will happen when he encounters a driver who doesn't give way in the braking zone...
Rating: 9
Cumulative: 26
2. Sebastian Vettel
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Down One
Sebastian Vettel scored his third podium in three races, but a repeat of his Malaysia win was never on the cards.
He qualified the Ferrari as high on the grid as it was capable of getting, third-fastest behind the two Mercedes.
The German didn't make the best of starts but managed to hold off Felipe Massa on the run down to Turn 1 to hold third. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were cruising up ahead and Vettel managed to stick with them for most of the race, attempting the undercut on Rosberg at both his stops.
On each occasion he fell short, unable to match the pace his fellow German could pull out when it was needed.
The race was essentially over after the final stop, and Vettel came home third.
The four-time champion remains second in the drivers' standings, just ahead of Rosberg.
Rating: 8
Cumulative: 27
1. Lewis Hamilton
11 of 11
Up One
Lewis Hamilton extended his lead at the top of the drivers' championship with perhaps his best weekend of the year so far.
The defending champion qualified on pole by the slenderest of margins—team-mate Nico Rosberg was just 0.046 seconds slower. But anyone hoping the race would be equally close was in for a disappointing afternoon.
Taking an aggressive position in his starting box, Hamilton cut across Rosberg to retain the lead into Turn 1 and was never really troubled thereafter. The German made a few attempts to close up in the opening stint, but Hamilton always had an answer.
The Brit drove a very slow and measured middle stint, able to manage his tyres as Rosberg held back a few seconds down the road. Mercedes let Rosberg stop first, but Hamilton put in a blistering set of laps before his own stop and emerged eight seconds clear.
The remainder of the race was simply a cruise to the flag.
Hamilton was quickest in every practice session, qualified on pole, won the race and set the fastest lap. Performances don't get much better than that.
Rating: 10
Cumulative: 28
Timing and lap data used throughout sourced from Formula1.com and the FIA.
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